THE owner of a Newquay business park is seeking planning permission to provide housing for keyworkers and NHS staff on site.
RT Julian & Son Ltd has submitted proposal to change a planning condition to allow 16 live-work modular Drylock units at Prow Park Business Village.
The company previously received planning approval retrospectively in 2018 for the repurposed modular shipping containers to house German film crews working on the TV adaptations of Rosamunde Pilcher's novels.
Laurence Associates, on behalf of the applicant, argued permission should be given to allow keyworkers and NHS staff to live there due to the “acute shortage” of accommodation in the town following the housing crisis.
A spokesperson for Laurence Associates, said: “The application site is located in Prow Park Business Village on Treloggan Industrial Estate. The application site exists as modular housing for film crew.
“Specifically, this includes persons employed by or contracted to FFP New Media GmbH registered in Germany.
“The site was approved for existing use which allowed for 16 live-work serviced workers accommodation units.
”The applicant seeks permission to allow for the use of the existing modular units as keyworker and NHS accommodation. The modular units will not be amended in any other way and with a live-work element retained.
“The site is previously developed land, in a highly sustainable location, well-integrated into the main town of Newquay. There remains an acute and urgent need for temporary accommodation in main towns in Cornwall with over 700 households either rough sleeping or living in temporary accommodation.
“The need for temporary accommodation for key worker and NHS accommodation is widely documented. It is anticipated that the proposal would secure the delivery of a specialist form of housing which seeks to address a specific emergency local housing need within the local community.
“In respect to economic benefits, the proposal will allow for key worker and NHS workers to reside within the county and allow such workers to work within local hospitals and emergency facilities. The proposal will also lead to wider benefits to the local community.
“In respect of meeting environmental objectives, the proposed development does not result in the reduction of any planting, landscaping or open space, and there would be no negative impacts on biodiversity.
“In terms of the site’s constraints, the site is not listed and nor does it lie within a World Heritage Site or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
“Within the Newquay Neighbourhood Plan, Prow Park is identified as being within an area designated as ‘existing employment site.’
“However, the modular units are excluded from this designation. The proposal is suitably located within Newquay and is accessible via sustainable modes of transport, including by foot, bicycle and train.”